Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Possess (Shamed #2) by Laura Marie Altom - Blog Tour & Giveaway

PossessShamed # 2

By: Laura Marie Altom

Releasing December 23rd, 2014

Loveswept

Ella Patton and
Liam Stone return in the breathtaking conclusion to the steamy, contentious
love affair that began in Control.Will you marry me? Those four
little words should be a dream come true. But for Ella Patton, they’re the
start of a waking nightmare. For despite the insatiable desire she feels for
Liam Stone, marriage is out of the question—divorcing her abusive husband,
Blaine, would be too dangerous to even contemplate. Besides, Ella couldn’t ask
for anything more than the life she and Liam share: a scalding hot passion
that’s totally outside the bounds of “I do.”

Liam has hit a brick wall. His fortune can’t buy Ella’s freedom from the oppressive
monster the law recognizes as her husband. Blaine will take any opportunity to
bring Ella back under his authority, no doubt exacting a terrible revenge as
punishment for nearly slipping away. But Liam has a force greater than money
and influence on his side: Ella’s love. She sparks his most unstoppable
determination—and ignites pleasures that no man should be able to possess.

“Funny,
how when you said you’d never leave me, I trusted you. Now, I know you’re no
different from anyone else I’ve ever loved.”

She
started walking, tottering on the packed dirt road, and I let her.

I
literally felt frozen. What had she expected? How was I supposed to react upon
learning she was still married to a guy twisted enough to have carved a message
on her tits? He was fucked. I was
fucked. Hell, we were all fucked.

Her
crystal-coated gown caught the moonlight.

When
she tripped, she fell like a lightning bug stripped of her wings.

I
could no more leave her sitting alone and crying in the dirt than I could
pretend I’d soon forget her. How could I, when she’d become part of me?

I
jogged her way, kneeling alongside her. “I’m sorry. But finding out you’re
still legally tied to a monster? It’s not okay.”

She
nodded. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I
know, but realistically, what did you think would happen? Where did you think
we were headed?”

“I
don’t know—I just thought we were together. Why can’t we be a couple without
marriage? Why is it even a big deal? You said you don’t commit.”

True.
Which was exactly why this was a huge deal—because she’d turned me upside down
and inside out and I couldn’t stand it. She’d emotionally stripped me naked and
raw and here I was, left struggling to find my way—only, she was my way. My everything.

“I’m
sorry.”

“Stop.
I know you didn’t plan this.” Honestly, I’d never even planned on proposing.
But then I’d also never seen myself developing an obsession, and like it or
not, that’s what Ella had become. “Not gonna lie—this situation sucks, but it
is what it is. Garrett will handle it.” I took her hands, drawing her to her
feet. “How’s the ankle?”

“Good,”
she said with a grim-faced nod.

“Need
me to carry you?”

“I
. . . can—walk.” Her words tumbled haphazard like falling leaves. I wasn’t
convinced, so I called the driver.

In
the moments before the limo returned, I took her left hand, drawing down her
glove. With it off, I shoved it in my pants pocket. I unwrapped my jacket from
my palm to find my cut had stopped bleeding. I tucked the jacket under my arm,
then put Ell’s ring where it belonged. “Here’s how this is going down. We’re
going to continue as if this talk never happened. We’re going to enjoy our
night—our engagement—and in the morning, Garrett will make your ugly marriage
go away.”

The
limo approached, washing us in the headlights’ harsh glare.

The
driver should have found us in an embrace. Instead, Ell and I stood like
strangers. After slipping my ring on her finger, I couldn’t even bring myself
to hold her hand. None of this was her fault, so why couldn’t I let it go? Why
did my body feel heavy with the sensation of having been duped?

Laura
Marie Altom is the author of more than forty books in three different genres.
Now that her kids are in college, Altom spends her days writing and chasing
after a menagerie of pets: a mini long-haired dachshund named Cocoa, a Yorkie
named Daisy, a mutt named Sweet Pea, and Domino—a black-and-white stealth cat
she rarely sees. She’s happily married to her college sweetheart (go Hogs!),
and when night falls, she steals a few romantic moments for herself with her
own hunky cover stud.